"This is a picture of my wife, Kelly, and I out at the pumpkin patch helping the kids pick out a pumpkin for our Halloween jack-o-lantern."

Family Christmas Picture

Randy's sense of humor becomes apparent with his Family Christmas card picture. You can plainly see the family resemblance.

"My wife and I, our three kids, my brother, his wife, their son, my little sister, and our parents are all here," he pointed out.

Kelly´s Personnal Flag

Randy Young - Fredericksburg, Virginia - USA

Randy´s Personal Banner

FOTW Editors Flag

FOTW Giffers Flag

I live in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, on the edge of the Chancellorsville battlefield just outside the city of Fredericksburg. My wife and I moved here in 2002. We have three kids (two daughters, ages 8 and 6, and a son who just turned 1) and two cats.
I was born in Bath County, Virginia. Both of my parents were public school teachers, and we moved a bit for the first few years until my younger brother and I started school. That was when we settled in Madison County, Virginia, a little farming community just north of Charlottesville. I met my wife in high school (10th grade, actually). We went to separate colleges, but still stayed together, getting married shortly after graduation. I attended Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where I received my Bachelor of Arts degree in Military History. After a handful of jobs, I finally got into my chosen career field working for the Federal government (Department of Defense) in northern Virginia. Through my employer, I was lucky enough to be selected to attend Marine Corps Command and Staff College last year at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, earning a Master of Military Studies degree.
&nbspI have no formal background as an illustrator. I am completely self-taught in graphic design, just trying to keep true to the design principles that I've learned from my studies of heraldry and vexillology. I started by hand-drawing flags and coats of arms in a sketchbook back in middle school right about 1990. I used to draw flags for my friends, make up coats of arms and flags for games that we'd play. And I remember when my little brother and I would go out in the woods around our house to play, I always had to have a flag with me. It was usually an old pillowcase or dish rag that my mom was throwing away, that I had appropriated and either drawn on it with permanent markers or painted it with some design. Only then would I be ready to go play with my brother.
&nbspMy greatest vexillological honor is the fact that my lovely wife still allows me to fly the personal flag that I designed for her the year after we met, back in 1994. It's a rather plain design that I adapted from some artwork that she had created, but I still think of her every time I see it flying from our flagpole.

Favorite Illustrations:

As far as illustrating flags digitally, it was in college when I decided to try to transfer my drawings onto the computer and startedplaying around with graphic editors, finally settling on my favorite - Paint Shop Pro. I

Flag of Winchester, Virginia: It was my first submission to FOTW, and it still holds a special place in my heart.

Flag of Madison County High School: The only one of my designs to actually find regular (albeit semi-official) use. The school system has never formally adopted the flag, but it is regularly used at football games and adorns the halls inside the high school. Go Mountaineers!

Flag of Washington's Life Guard: One of my first historical flag submissions, and still one of the more elegant designs, at least in terms of the American propensity for putting elaborate scenes on cloth.

Flag of the Bucks of America: As with Washington's Life Guard flag, a striking design, methinks, and one of the harder ones I've giffed, what with all the intricate scrollwork and individual pine needles.

Flag of Spotsylvania County, Virginia: My current home, I have to love having made this flag.

Flag of the Delaware State Police: One of the first of my law enforcement agency flags.

Flag of the Charles City County, Virginia: One of the more difficult municipal flags that I've giffed, due to both the intricate design and the non-rectangular shape of the flag.

Past Projects and Honors:

Over the years Randy has submitted flag designs to various Virginia locations and instutions, including Madison County, Bristol, Harrisonburg, and Mary Washington College. "None of my designs were even considered. Very disappointing," he lamented. "Still, I've saved copies of all of my designs, just in case an opportunity ever arises to try again," he added.